How big is the UK immigration appeals backlog?

The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) had 151,767 open cases at the end of March 2026, up 68% in a year and the highest on record in the published series. 87,450 of these were asylum or protection appeals. Source: MoJ Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026.

How long does a UK immigration appeal take?

The mean time from lodging an appeal to clearance was 61 weeks for cases cleared in January to March 2026. Asylum and protection appeals took 67 weeks on average, and human rights appeals 71 weeks. Source: MoJ Tribunal Statistics Quarterly.

What percentage of UK immigration appeals succeed?

Of appeals determined at a hearing or on papers in 2025/26, 39% were allowed, meaning the tribunal overturned the original decision. The rate was 44% for human rights appeals and 39% for asylum and protection appeals. Most determined appeals are dismissed. Source: MoJ Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, table FIA_3.

Is the UK asylum backlog falling or rising?

It depends which backlog: asylum claims awaiting an initial Home Office decision fell to 48,758 by the end of March 2026, down from a peak of 175,457 in June 2023. But the appeals caseload at the tribunal rose to 151,767 over the same period, as refused claims are appealed. During 2025 the tribunal backlog overtook the Home Office initial-decision backlog.

Immigration & Asylum Appeals: The Tribunal Backlog

Source: MoJ/HMCTS Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026 (published 11 June 2026); Home Office asylum statistics, year ending March 2026. Latest quarter provisional.

The First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) had 151,767 open cases at the end of March 2026, up 68% in a year. In 2025/26 it received 117,697 appeals (+49%) but cleared 56,869. The backlog has moved through the system: asylum claims awaiting an initial Home Office decision fell to 48,758, while the tribunal's caseload became the larger of the two backlogs during 2025.

Open caseload (31 Mar 2026)

151,767

Caseload change YoY

+68%

Pending asylum appeals

87,450

Appeals received 2025/26

117,697

Mean time to clear

61 wks

Appeals allowed 2025/26

39%

Two backlogs: Home Office falling, tribunal rising

Asylum claims awaiting an initial Home Office decision have fallen sharply since their June 2023 peak. But refused claims can be appealed, and the open caseload at the immigration tribunal has risen as initial decisions were cleared. Between March and June 2025 the tribunal backlog overtook the Home Office backlog.

Quarterly snapshots, June 2015 to March 2026. Tribunal open caseload: MoJ, table FIA_4 (all case types). Awaiting initial decision: Home Office, dataset Asy_D03 (asylum claims, main applicants and dependants). The two series count different things and are indicative of scale, not directly comparable.

Appeals received vs cleared, quarterly

The gap between the two lines is the backlog growing: receipts roughly doubled in two years while disposals rose more slowly.

FTTIAC receipts and disposals per quarter, 2015/16 to 2025/26. MoJ tables FIA_1 and FIA_2. Latest quarter provisional.

Share of determined appeals allowed

Of appeals determined at a hearing or on papers, the share where the tribunal overturned the original decision. 39% in 2025/26 also means 61% were dismissed.

Appeals allowed as a share of appeals determined, by financial year. MoJ table FIA_3. 2025/26 provisional.

Appeal volumes and outcomes by financial year

Year	Received	Cleared	Determined	Allowed	Dismissed	Withdrawn*
2018/19	43,864	59,311	45,174	52%	48%	19%
2019/20	42,293	49,903	39,524	50%	50%	17%
2020/21	26,211	20,395	11,792	49%	51%	26%
2021/22	39,742	40,515	26,396	51%	49%	16%
2022/23	37,773	38,285	26,906	50%	50%	16%
2023/24	58,048	39,416	27,184	48%	52%	18%
2024/25	79,074	40,991	26,041	44%	56%	19%
2025/26	117,697	56,869	25,831	39%	61%	28%

Allowed and dismissed are shares of appeals determined at a hearing or on papers (FIA_3). *Withdrawn is a share of all disposals (FIA_2), a different denominator, so rows do not sum to 100%. 2025/26 provisional.

How long appeals take, and the Upper Tribunal

61 wks

Mean time to clearance, all FTTIAC appeals

Cases cleared Jan to Mar 2026. MoJ table T_3

67 wks

Asylum / protection appeals

Mean clearance time. MoJ table T_3

71 wks

Human rights appeals

Mean clearance time. MoJ table T_3

4,848

Judicial reviews lodged at UT(IAC) in 2025/26

Open JR caseload: 2,081 at 31 Mar 2026. MoJ tables UIA_1, UIA_4

Data Limitations & Caveats

FTTIAC covers all immigration appeals, not just asylum. The open caseload includes human rights, EEA free movement, deportation and deprivation-of-citizenship appeals. Asylum/protection appeals were 87,450 of the 151,767 open cases at end March 2026.
The two backlogs count different things. The tribunal series counts open appeal cases at any stage; the Home Office series counts asylum claims (main applicants and dependants) awaiting an initial decision. They mark different stages of different populations and are shown together for scale, not as a like-for-like comparison.
Percentages use different denominators. Allowed/dismissed rates are shares of appeals determined at a hearing or on papers; withdrawal rates are shares of all disposals. Neither is a share of appeals lodged.
Latest quarter is provisional. January to March 2026 figures are marked provisional by the MoJ and are revised in later publications. MoJ data is quarterly and published with roughly a ten-week lag.
Open caseload is a snapshot. The MoJ notes it is taken at data extraction and cannot be reproduced by adding receipts and subtracting disposals.
Upper Tribunal appeals are missing from the published data. UT(IAC) appeal receipts and disposals have not been published since Q2 2021/22 due to an IT migration; only its judicial review workload is shown here.

Sources: MoJ/HMCTS: Tribunal Statistics Quarterly, January to March 2026, main tables FIA_1 to FIA_4, T_3, UIA_1, UIA_4 (published 11 June 2026) | Home Office: Asylum claims awaiting a decision detailed dataset (Asy_D03), year ending March 2026.